Home of the Sun
by CSMars
Summary: AU, NaruSasu! Everyone loves Uzumaki Naruto, but to Sasuke, the blond was loud, brash, and the biggest showoff on the entire campus. They were as different as night and day, or so he would like to believe. But why are these similarities popping up lately!
1. Keep your pants on

My first fanfic in almost 7 years... wow... I would like to say my writing's improved but I don't think that's too true. But at least my grammar's better!! (I mean, when I wrote fanfics in 8th grade I was still learning English! XD)

Also, my first full-fledged yaoi fic! I've been ignoring all the plot bunnies that popped up now and then in the past 7 years, but recently, I've been reading too much NaruSasu fics so the bunnies started having sex... and you know what happens after that. So read the author's notes, read the story, and review if you like it or have suggestions! Thanks!

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

TRUTH I:

I like yaoi (male-male relationships). I also like het (male-female relationships). This story will contain both. If you have problems with either of them (or both!), please turn back now. This is the only warning you will receive.

TRUTH II:

I love AU stories. Out of those my favorite settings are college, business world, high school and yakuza. So this story will be an AU set in a Japanese college. LOL, you readers will get some Japanese culture thrown in with the smexy goodness. XP

TRUTH III:

I LOVE Naruto! The show, but more so, the character. I don't think he's gorgeous or breath-catching, but I adore his personality and will marry him if he was older and not an anime character.

Addendum to Truth III: I hate Sasuke!! Even though I love NaruSasu in the fandom, I honestly wouldn't even care if Kishi-sensei killed Sasuke in the series. This is another reason why I like reading AUs where he's not a complete bastard.

TRUTH IV:

Naruto the manga and all the characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei and all the other stuff (anime, video games, etc) belong to someone other than me. I do have some Naruto merchandise, but that's pretty much it.

New discovery I:

I really like younger seme in yaoi series (thank you Naono Bohra-sensei!). So since Naruto is the seme here, he's the younger one.

New discovery II:

I recently found out that I hate it when people use random Japanese phrases in fics. Like "he took out his keitai denwa..." Ah!! Frasturating!! Either write "cell phone" or write the entire fic in Japanese! So this story will not have random Japanese words, except dobe (b/c it's essential) and the use of suffixes, which reveal a lot about relationships. See endnotes.

I will reveal characters' ages as we go, along with more "TRUTH" that people will not read... ENJOY!!

* * *

Home of the Sun 

Chapter 1: Keep your pants on

Published: 7/31/07 (pay day, yay!!)

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Everyone loves Uzumaki Naruto.

Guys, gals, elders, children...

The Konoha native imparts laughter to everyone around him, and people fought to be just a little bit closer to the blonde boy. Sure, Sasuke didn't have any classes with the first year student, but he didn't need to be in a room with the boy to peg down his attitude. He's seen the loud boy around campus plenty of times, laughing, yelling, fighting...

"Stupid!" The dark-haired boy sighed to himself. It's the only adequate description for the energetic soccor player currently running around the field like a madman, high-fiving some of his fellow players and jumping on others. Okay, it was an impressive goal, Sasuke admitted begrudgingly, but the game's not over yet, what the hell's up with that show-off? Ah... see... there goes his shirt... Sasuke massaged his temples, which are slowly tightening as the onslaught of cheers increased. Sharp FEMALE screams, he noted dryly.

"Why are we here again and when can we leave?" He turned his head to ask the boy sitting next to him.

"Hinata wanted to see the game and I didn't want her to come alone." Came a whispered reply.

"Great! So you drag me along to accompany you? Why couldn't you have asked Tenten-san? Or someone else who would enjoy this show of male muscle much more... than... eh? What the hell?! Is he taking off his shorts?!" Sasuke pointed at the field as a referee ran up to the blonde player and said something to him. During his brief exchange with Neji, all the Konoha players have rendered themselves shirtless and have now started dancing in front of their adoring fans rather suggestively. The screams got louder. Sasuke's headache got worse.

"Tenten went home this weekend. She bought her train tickets before the championship date was decided, or else she would never miss something historic like this, trust me." Neji turned his pale eyes to his cousin and relied Sasuke's original question to the blushing Hinata: the 2nd question.

A curt whistle was blown and the two sets of players started lining up and bowing to each other. Sasuke glanced at the scoreboard. Isn't there still 2 minutes left?

"I think the other team resigned. Since they're losing 1-3 and the chance of scoring 2 goals in a minute and 41 seconds is probably zero percent." Neji answered the unvoiced question.

"So can we go now?" It was hard to hide the impatience he felt and Neji let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay okay! Keep your pants on." The rather loud comment left Hinata's face even redder—as if that was possible. Sasuke couldn't help but grin, the girl is still so sensitive, even after living with him and Neji for 4 years!

The crowd of spectators began to file out of the arena and Sasuke was thankful the cheering is beginning to diminish. He's definitely going to need some painkiller for his headache later.

"Sasuke-niisan," a timid voice called him back from his throbbing migraine, "do you think Neji-niisan will let me go greet Inuzuka-kun? ... I want to congratulate him on the win..."

Inuzuka-kun? Inuzuka-kun?! Sasuke's mind raced to process this newly acquired information. Who is this Inuzuka?

"Hinata-chan!" A brown-haired boy drenched in sweat was running toward the trio with a happy grin on his face.

"Inuzuka-kun!" Hinata's face immediately acquired three shades of red and a light bulb lit up in Sasuke's head. So this was the reason he had to suffer two hours of hot sun and deafening squeals from all the fans? He looks over to Neji, who was scowling at the sun-tanned boy chattering away with the younger girl.

Normally, Sasuke would have smirked at the twitching vein on Neji's forehead. After all, it was rare anyone could get under the older boy's skin, and even rarer would the afore-mentioned male give an outward show to reflect that annoyance, but what's worrying Neji right now is also worrying him, so he settled on the same scowling face.

"The team and a bunch of others are going to the club to celebrate, would you like to come along?" The younger boy asked, shifting uncomfortably under the twin death glares from the two raven-haired "bodyguards."

"Umm..." Hinata twiddled her thumbs nervously, "No... I have plans... maybe next time..."

Ah-ha! Sucker!! Sasuke cheered triumphantly. Our little sis still prefers to hang out with us over you!!

"Then next time definitely!!" At Inuzuka's adamant words, Hinata smiled. It wasn't often Hinata showed her happiness, and Sasuke valued the slight up-curl at the corners of the young girl's mouth like most women valued diamonds. When he saw Hinata's silent nod to those four words, Sasuke suddenly felt very, very old. I turn around and she's grown into a lady, he laments.

The three walked down the brick-paved road to the apartment Sasuke and Neji shared west of campus. Hinata's face was still burning red and she refused to look at anything except the ground. The two "bodyguards" trailed behind her, out of ears' reach.

"So who the hell's that Inuzuka kid?" Sasuke nudged Neji with his elbow and asked quietly.

"Inuzuka Kiba, also a first year. I think he's in Hinata's Japanese history class or something... And obviously," Neji huffed protectively, "Hinata has a major crush on the kid."

"Was he also a part of that 'lovely' strip show at the end of the game? Sure was a loud kid... is it just me or is the entire soccor team all noisy idiots?" Don't mention him, don't mention him, "like that Uzumaki kid." Now why did I mention him?

Neji slowed his pace and looked at his companion's face intently. Sasuke's mind chided his rare lapse of judgment and the unfamiliar warmth of a blush slowly spreading across his pale skin.

"Uzumaki-kun is not that bad..." Neji returned to looking forward and remarked in a faint voice. Sasuke spin his head toward Neji so fast he almost suffered whip-lash. The quiet fourth year generally despised show-offs like that blondie. "He can be annoying as hell with that stupid grin, but... he's not a bad person..."

Neji uttered a sound, halfway between a chuckle and a cough, and Sasuke swallowed whatever comment he had to keep on listening. "I don't want to like Inuzuka, especially if he ends up dating Hinata. But even I have to admit that if he's friends with Uzumaki-kun, he must be an okay person... at least somewhat trustworthy, right?" This time Neji did chuckle, ruefully.

"She's growing up, isn't she?" Sasuke murmured. He wasn't sure why Neji thought Uzumaki's friends would be trustworthy, but he was sure they're definitely done with this conversation for today.

"I feel so old." He voiced his earlier thought and the other boy almost sniggered.

"Sasuke, you need to get a girlfriend!"

--- --- ---

"I'm going to the convenience store to get milk tea, do you guys want anything?" Sasuke yelled toward the general direction of the living room where the two Hyuugas were lounging after dinner.

"Nothing for me, Sasuke-niisan, thank you! I'll be heading back to my dorm soon."

"Get me coffee!"

"What kind do you want?"

"Boss! Mocha blend, or regular Georgia!"

"God..." Sasuke muttered to himself, "make up your mind."

"No, not God; it's too strong!" Neji's black head popped up from behind the couch and smirked at his younger sibling.

"Hurray for your superhuman hearing, Neji!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him, but not before the response of "that's Neji-nii to you!" floated to his ears.

--- --- ---

Ten minutes later, Sasuke was happily walking home with his Kirin Milk Tea (1) as he passed by the little playground bordering the main campus. The night was quiet and the boy breathed in the peacefulness with a calm that rarely came to him as a child.

"...the game today!" Someone was disturbing that quietness and under the streetlight, Sasuke could see the radiant color of his hair. And who else in Konoha would sport such brilliantly yellow mane except that showoff?!

Naruto was sitting on a swing, back towards him and arms wildly gesturing. Shouldn't he be out getting inebriated with his teammates? The dark-haired student wondered. But the ace play was instead sitting alone in the neighborhood, lazily pushing his swing and speaking loudly to someone.

Curious, Sasuke's legs took him closer, his ears wanted to hear what the blonde was sharing under the stars.

"...Scored and we won!! Can you believe it? It was amazing enough that we made it to the finals this year, but winning the championship?! I wish you were there to see us! The upperclassmen said we first-years are really good; they're going to train us like crazy during the summer for the nationals! Aww... man..." The younger boy chattered on excitedly. Sasuke tried to see if he was talking on a cell phone, but it was too far from his current position behind the maple tree. Before he let himself get any closer, a crisp voice rang out in the semi-darkness.

"Naruto! Where are you?" The voice got closer and Sasuke could see a girl with shoulder-length pink hair searching, then settling her sight on the playground, "Ah! There you are!"

"Sakura!" Naruto ran toward her and dragged her to one of the empty swings, "Sit! I was talking to the old man, now you're here, let's talk to him together." Her flashed her a thumbs-up and a foolish grin before sitting back down in his own swing.

The Sakura girl cleared her voice and squirmed uneasily for a little bit before opening her mouth, "Sarutobi-jiichan, how are you? I'm sorry it's been so long. Everyone's been doing great here, especially this loudmouth here! I bet he was telling you about how he won the championship, right? Well, don't listen to him, they're all lies!" Sasuke smirked as Naruto started jumping around, protesting.

The girl smiled and waved Naruto's hands away before continuing, "He only scored one goal, you know? Just because it was the last goal in the game, guess what? This kid here starts stripping in front of everyone!!" Sakura was now hollering in laughter and the blonde boy has started a fight to cover her mouth with his hands. "I wasn't stripping!! It was a... victory dance! Yeah that's it! I was just celebrating!"

"Jiichan, you should have seen the fangirls! Oh my I was worried the referees and the other players would get trampled to death and we'll have lawsuits to take care of..." Her laughter has left her breathless and even in the dim light, Sasuke could make out the slight blush residing on Naruto's face... The boy has already given up the fight and sat down on the ground by Sakura's feet.

There were a few minutes of complete silence and Sasuke suddenly felt like he was intruding on a very intimate moment. He stilled his breathing behind the tree and tried his best to melt into the night, hoping the duo wouldn't discover him.

"Naruto," the pink hair spoke, "it is certainly not a crime to look good." The boy in question grinned confidently at the compliment and the girl continued, reaching out to pat his wild hair with a hand, "You have become a very handsome—and wonderful—man. Sarutobi-jiichan would haven been so proud of you."

She proceeded to jump off her swing and help Naruto up, indicating it was time to head back. "And your parents too... They would also be proud of you, just as we all are." Sakura whispered affectionately, reaching up hesitantly, as if wanting to hug the boy but unsure of her actions.

Naruto swoop down and enveloped the petite girl in his arms, "Ne, ne, can I stay over tonight? I really don't want to deal with Kiba's drunkenness..."

The two walked off toward the east of campus and Sasuke could no long hear the conversation. Just as he turned to head home, his cell phone started blinking. "Neji! Shit!" Sasuke cursed, realizing it's been almost an hour since he left to buy the drinks. I hope Neji doesn't kill me, Sasuke thought as she hurried home, refusing to pick up his phone.

It was certainly an odd encounter, especially considering he was hiding behind some branches the entire time. But for some reason, Sasuke couldn't call it a complete waste of time. He has known of Uzumaki Naruto, who hasn't? The boy was only a first year, but even female students in some of Sasuke's classes would go ga-ga over the blond and talk loudly about wanting to date him, as if it's completely normal for girls in their early 20's to go chasing after a minor. (2)

Sasuke sighed, it's not like he hated the boy. After all, he hasn't even formally met the guy. But the dark-haired boy really hates showoffs and raucous fools, both of which seem to be perfect descriptions for that dobe, so he has never even felt the need to meet this subject of many girls' desire.

For someone he has never taken an interest in, why did Sasuke walk toward the playground when he could have ignored what he saw and went home to drink his milk tea in peace? That was the first thing that was bothering the older boy.

The second was that pink-haired girl, and how Uzumaki called her by her first name. Seems like his fangirls are in for a disappointment. The first year already got a girlfriend, and it's only July! (3)

But what bothered him the most... Sasuke frowned as his mind tried to wrap around the point...

Maybe it was the darkened skies... maybe it was the flickering lights... but what bothered Uchiha Sasuke the most was that the loneliness swimming in Uzumaki Naruto's eyes when his parents were mentioned was exactly the same expression his mirror reflected in his own.

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To be continued...

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So how did you guys like the first chapter? I will reveal more about the Naruto/Sakura relationship in future chapters. Up next is Sasuke and Hinata's relationship, and maybe why Neji is considering joining Naru-chan's fanclub? 

Please review and give me suggestions! MUAH! --Mars

Endnotes:

1) Sorry about the obsession with Japanese drinks, but I really love my Kirin milk tea and shell out a lot of money to buy it in Chicago (so much more expensive than in Japan)! I'm not a huge fan of Japanese canned/bottled coffee but my roommate likes them, and her favorite is God, not for the taste, but for the name. Boss and Georgia (produced by Coke-cola company) are probably the most famous brands in Japan.

2) In Japan, 20 is the age of adulthood. It's also the legal age for voting, drinking, etc. so there's a big festival every year for all those who turn 20. It's not illegal for someone 1 or 2 years older to be in a relationship with an 18 or 19 year-old, but it might be looked down upon by others.

3) Japanese school years start in April so it's only been 3 months since school started!!

A note on names:

Japanese refer to each other by last names. Very rarely will you hear someone calling another person by their first name, unless they're 1) very good friends, 1) lovers, 3) relatives (older calling younger), 4) young (little kids calling each other) or 5) some other close relationship. Sometimes even married couples would call each other by last names (more traditional families). This story is written from 3rd person limited POV, so when Sasuke is thinking or talking about Naruto, he will use Uzumaki or Uzumaki-kun or Uzumaki-san. But when the narrator is talking, I will use first names because we're all more familiar with them so it makes everyone's life easier.

A note on suffix usage:

In Japan, people refer to another person who's around the same level as –san (so the most commonly used is last name-san). People refer to younger boys as –kun (like Neji here to Naruto), this is also used when girls refer to boys of younger or same age (a very cutesy way). Girls refer to their good friends as –chan, and it's also used when boys refer to their female friends and when people refer to their pets. Calling someone without using a suffix is rare, and indicates the two people are very close. It's possible to call someone by their last name without a suffix, but it's considered fairly rude (like here when Sasuke calls Naruto "Uzumaki"). Calling someone of the **opposite sex** by **first** name **without** a suffix almost always means the two are dating, which is why Sasuke thinks Naruto and Sakura are dating.


	2. Rabbits in Wonderland

Here's chapter 2. Sorry it probably has more grammar mistakes than the last chapter because I only read over it 10 times instead of the normal 30. XD

I'm rushing because I'm going on vacation tomorrow!!! But the good news is that from chapter 3 on, I will have a beta reader: Ma Chat! Thanks for volunteering, sweetie:)

TRUTH V:

I don't dislike the girls in Naruto. Especially after the time skip, I feel Sakura is must better developed. Anyway, I think the only bad thing with shounen series (my #1 fav genre in manga) is the under-development of female characters, so I feel fans should use their creations and the fandom as chances to develop these characters more. Just my opinion.

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Home of the Sun 

Chapter 2: Rabbits in Wonderland

Published: 8/9/07 (yay vacation!)

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The next day Sasuke woke up late. Even though on Mondays and Thursdays he didn't have morning classes, his biological timepiece would always wake him up at 8am without an alarm, just like every other day. But on that particular Monday after the Kanto soccer regional championship, Uchiha Sasuke lazily sat up in bed and found the hands of his clock cheerfully pointing at 9:30.

Groaning, the boy dragged himself out of bed and to the kitchen, on the dining room table sat a bento box and note with Hinata's neat handwriting:

"To Sasuke-niisan, I bought some octopus on sale this morning at the fish market so I made your favorite! Enjoy, from Hinata."

Odd. Even the smell and sound from Hinata's cooking had not woken him up.

Nonetheless, the raven-haired boy felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He could still remember the day he was adopted into the Hyuuga household. The 14-year-old Uchiha had been tremendously rebellious and rude toward his new foster family, hell bend on making everyone else's life just as miserable as he felt.

One day, as Sasuke sulked in the driveway of the main manor, he saw the young Hinata stumbling home after school with tussled hair sticking everywhere and missing her favorite hat. The girl replied to Sasuke's questions truthfully: a classmate named Kimiko and her friends took her hat after a scuffle. The boy, never one to see injustice go unpunished, had wanted to teach those bullies a lesson, but the little 11-year-old pulled on his sleeves and spoke the longest paragraph he has ever heard her saying, even until this day.

"Kimiko's mom died last month and it was her birthday today. One of the other girls came back and told me and she apologized... they're not bullies..." The girl had looked up with her incredibly pale eyes and suddenly, the older boy wasn't sure if this speech should be said by a girl three years his junior. "I understand why she was sad and wanted my hat; it must have meant more to her than it would to me... Nii-san, humans live together, so we have to understand each other before resorting to something we might regret later. It's much easier for us to be happy that way, don't you agree?"

Needless to say, Hinata's hat came back after three days. "Kimiko" had returned it, cleanly washed and with a letter of apology. Even 'till this day Sasuke had suspicions that his innocent younger sister had made up that story to teach him a lesson, but he's never asked directly and she's only ever offered a knowing smile every time he brought up the story of her favorite hat.

It might have been a fake story, but Sasuke understood something that day. He had been too busy rebelling against reality he's lost sight of how it looks like. Yes, his parents were dead. Yes, his older brother went crazy. And yes, he's now the second son of a big-shot business tycoon family. Maybe the Hyuugas only adopted him out of pity—maybe it was even LESS than that! Maybe they only wanted to use his sob story to polish the already spotless reputation of Hyuuga Zaibatsu. But whatever the reason, this was reality. He's been given another shot at life, and it is much easier to love than it is to hate.

--- --- ---

He glanced at his watch. About an hour 'till his first class, plenty of time to eat Hinata's special lunch. He rounded the corner and suddenly saw a hurl of pink dashing into his arms. Sasuke steadied himself and instinctively reached out to catch the... whatever that crushed into him. Ah, he realized, it was a girl—more specifically, the girl from yesterday.

She was now starring back at him and the boy realized their currently position: he had caught her from falling to the floor with his left hand and was cradling her in his arms. It looked like a romantic scene between lovers: the prince dipping the princess before going in for a sweet kiss.

"Wow, classic shoujo manga pose." The female chimed and suppressed a chuckle as she slowly stood up.

Sasuke coughed, somewhat embarrassed at her frankness.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, nice to meet ya!" She bowed hurriedly, turning her attention back to the ground where two large plastic bags rested before Sasuke could properly introduce himself.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, nice to meet you too, Haruno-san."

"Thanks for saving me there, Uchiha-san. I was rushing to deliver some food to a few mindless eating machines so I didn't see you. Sorry... but I guess I was lucky! Haha, betcha all the girls in the hallway who witnessed that were dying to switch places with me!" Sakura winked and the pale-skinned student felt his face getting warmer. Sakura giggled at the boy's blatant awkwardness. She was enjoying this, he could tell.

"Sakura-chan, where are you?!" The shrilling yell saved Sasuke and Sakura turned to see who had interrupted her amusement.

It was a girl running at top speed, darting in and out of empty classrooms, her blonde ponytail whipping behind her.

"Ino-chan, I'm here!" Sakura put down one of the bags and waved her arm conspicuously.

The blonde girl, arms carrying a large clothe bag, rushed over. But her pace slowed when she spotted the handsome boy.

"Ooo... you're distracted by this hottie, I see." "Ino-chan" teased her friend and threw a sultry look toward the boy. "Tsk, tsk, Sakura-chan, what would your boyfriend say?"

Sakura sighed and slightly bowed to Sasuke, who by now had realized the newcomer was probably not his savior, but a devil in disguise, "This is my friend Yamanaka Ino. Sorry about her... she's... uh... not well." The comment earned a half-hearted scowl and a shrug from the girl in question before Sakura continued her introductions, "And this is Uchiha Sasuke-kun, I accidentally ran into him and was just apologizing."

But Ino wasn't listening to the pink-haired girl anymore, her completely attention was now being directly toward the sole male and Sasuke was getting nervous.

"So... Uchiha-kun, What year are you? What department? Do you live in the dorms or in an apartment? Birthday? Hobbies? Blood type?" Sasuke winced at the bombardment of questions and tried to ignore the intense flirtatious vibe emitting from the blonde's every pore. In his peripheral vision, he could see Sakura smacking her forehead with her spare hand.

"I'm a third year—" the boy replied hesitantly before Ino interrupted with a squeal.

"REALLY?! I'm a third year too! It must be fate!!" (1)

Just as Sasuke was silently praying for a hole in the ground to swallow him up, Sakura's cell phone blared an Utada Hikaru song he didn't recognize and the girl fumbled through her purse to see who's calling.

"It's Naru! Oh no it's already 12:15!!" The pinkette lost her composure and grabbed her friend. "Ino, we're so late! If we don't get these food to them, Naruto's going to start eating our friends!!"

At those words, Ino stopped checking Sasuke out immediately, obviously knowing what would happen when a certain blond soccer player doesn't get his food.

Without another word or glance toward the boy, the two girls sprinted away from him, muttering "we're late! We're going to be late!" like the white rabbit in _Alice in Wonderland_.

Bizarre... Sasuke looked at the dust left behind, frowning but half bemused, what a wacky bunch of people...

What he didn't know was that his life was going to get a lot more interesting.

--- --- ---

"During the summer, you will keep monitoring the growth of your virtual business. Remember to check the stock quotes everyday and act accordingly; feel free to consolidate with other projects if the need arises. Keep your goals in mind: to increase profit margins while protecting your assets. And as always, the winner of this little competition will get a prize from your handsome teacher!" The silver-haired teacher raised his eyebrow suggestively and if not for that ridiculous mask covering half of his face, the perverted man would be drooling at his own words.

Most of the people in the class—like Sasuke—has taken courses with Hatake-sensei, or Kakashi-sensei, as he preferred to be called. They know the infamous pervert enjoyed joking with his students and often set up prizes like "A Date with Kakashi" for the class projects. Of course, the prizes were never carried out—to many of the girls' dismay—and Kakashi, despite what most outsiders thought, kept a clear line between teacher and students. Moreover, rumor has it that he was already romancing someone. A man, no less.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the idea. As long as his teachers were capable and professional, he could care less who they slept with behind closed doors. And Hatake Kakashi was nothing if for a capable professional. What he did before becoming a professor here at Konoha three years ago was not known to many people; his resume listed two large Tokyo corporations as main references and contained an impressive list of awards... why he quit his glamorous banking job was something Sasuke would not know. But the teacher liked Sasuke's diligence and intelligence and that alone would guarantee a spotless recommendation letter after he graduates.

Ah, there's Neji. Sasuke quickened his pace as he spotted his older sibling turn the corner into the biological sciences building.

Weird... Sasuke thought to himself, what's a fourth year business student doing in the biology department?

The raven-haired boy stuck his head out while hiding enough of himself in hopes of spying on the elder Hyuuga without being noticed. Standing in the hallway of the first floor was Neji, politely bowing to... Uzumaki?

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke was struck by Neji's actions. Had he come to gather information on that Inuzuka kid for Hinata? Still, Neji seemed grateful for some reason, though the blonde kid was hastily waving his hands and shrugging off the matter with a laugh.

Had Uzumaki-kun's info about Inuzuka-kun been THAT helpful? Enough to make the proud Neji bow his head in appreciation? The question clouded the Uchiha's mind as he turned to head home.

--- --- ---

Sasuke silently watched the shy girl fluttering around the small kitchen, magically mixing concoctions that will surely turn into a delicious dinner. He bit his lip slightly and furrowed his forehead, signaling that he was thinking intently about something important.

"Hinata," his curiosity finally gained the upper-hand, "do you know a first year named Uzumaki Naruto? I don't think he's in your department though..."

She blushed at the name. He frowned.

The girl stopped her dance and directed her attention towards him, "I don't have any classes with him, but I've met him once."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking for an explanation.

With a flushed face, Hinata replied, "do you remember when Hanabi visited us about five weeks ago..." Sasuke nodded at the mention of the youngest Hyuuga. "Well, I had classes on that Friday so I told her to stay in my dorm building until I finished. But she wandered outside to explore the town and ran into some high school delinquents—"

"What?!" Sasuke jumped up from his seat. He was never as close to Hanabi as he was to Hinata, but why didn't people tell him these things?

"It's okay, it's okay!" Hinata scrambled over, alarmed at the anger flashing in her brother's cobalt eyes. "Sasuke-niisan, it's okay. They tried to pick on her but apparently Uzumaki-kun saw them and saved Hanabi. He brought her back to my dorm so I met him briefly."

Sasuke sat back down, going over the story in his head. "And I assume Neji knows about this?"

"Umm... Hanabi asked me not to tell you guys. She was afraid that Neji would scold her... but I accidentally let it slip last week when I was talking to Neji-niisan..."

Had Neji gone to give thanks to Uzumaki? It was easy for Sasuke to imagine... Neji had always been the noble kind of guy and he would definitely seek out the savior of his younger sister. Heck, he was nowhere as noble as Neji, but he probably would've done the same thing...

Except... the story seemed fishy. If it was anyone else, Sasuke would have believed it without a question, but Uzumaki Naruto? He wasn't aware the young blond kid knew anything except food and soccer.

A great athlete, a handsome face, a shining personality, AND a prince charming? That was just way too good to be true, Sasuke smirked. And I'm going to figure it out.

--- --- ---

Sasuke squinted under the hot July sun. It's day three of operation "find-a-fault-in-Uzumaki-so-my-little-sisters-don't-fall-for-him" and he was bored!

Basically, what he's seen in the past few days hadn't been anything that would surprise him. The boy obviously had a lot of friends and admirers. Every day during lunch when Sasuke had been sp—uhm! observing him, the first year student always had a new crowd of people hanging off of him.

Yesterday, there was even a boy sitting in Uzumaki's laps at the beginning! Twenty minutes after that, the blonde girl Sasuke met on Monday was feeding him food as if they were a couple. Wasn't he going out with Haruno-san?

Sasuke was so confused. Either Uzamaki-kun was dating all of these people, or he was dating no one! And by the intimate looks he was giving to them, he definitely wasn't "dating no one."

What kind of weird love-polygonal relationships did these people lead? Sasuke wondered.

See, there! He said to himself as Yamanaka-san tackle-glomped the boy, almost sending him into the ground. Sasuke took another bite of his cafeteria-bought sandwich and grimaced at the bland taste. How he and Neji survived on these lunches before Hinata arrived was something he's not willing to find out again. If only he didn't forget Hina's home-cooked meal today...

One more day. The older boy promised himself. Tomorrow is Friday and I can wrap up this investigation. Uzumaki was just a super-facial jock who had nothing except his looks, and Sasuke sure as hell wasn't going to hand over either of his sisters to that playboy.

--- --- ---

He looked.

He looked again.

He wasn't there.

This was weird. Sasuke had thought Uzumaki always had lunches during this time. He's noticed the loudmouth plenty of times under that cherry tree. It was the biggest cherry tree on campus, and everyone knew to find Uzumaki Naruto there if they had love letters to deliver or fights to pick.

But that Friday, he wasn't there. His friends sat under the tree, their presence lackluster without the blond. Sasuke thought he saw a girl from one of his management classes, a blonde fourth year who aced every test effortlessly, as if she was the one who wrote the books.

"Are you looking for me?"

Sasuke whipped around at the sound of that sparkling voice.

A gorgeous boy starred back with exquisite blue eyes.

_Speak of the devil._

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To be continued.

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Endnote: 

(1) "It must be fate!" or "Unmei desu!" in Japanese is just an inside joke between my friends and I. We watch way too much j-drama and like to make fun of cliche storylines by say "unmei desu!" lol! we're dorks, ignore us.

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So what do you guys think? I'll give cookies to whoever can guess the boy sitting in Naruto's laps!! XP Also for those who are wondering why Sasuke is "nice" to Sakura... well, this is Japan and Japanese people are nice. Especially since she's done nothing to annoy him so why shouldn't he be at least amiable to the girl.

Like I said before, I'll be away from tomorrow 'till my birthday on the 18th. I have about half of chapter 3 written already and will most likely finish chapter 3 and 4 while I'm gone. Next chapter will be from Naruto's POV so you get to see what our favorite hokage-in-training (except not in this fic) is thinking of the emo kid (again, except not in this fic). LOL!

If you have suggestions for plot or couples, let me know!

Thank you for those who reviewed, and those who added me to favorite stories, etc. But I'm a little surprised by how few review I got... is it because there are so many Naruto fics every day the amount of people who read each story is low? lol... i hope people are reading this story...

Anyway, 'till next time! --Mars


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